“I don’t know,” she replied. “All I know is what she told me.” Her eyes narrowed as she considered it. “To be honest, I’m fairly certain that while she’s been in touch with me, some of her communications weren’t really her.”
“Nay,” he murmured, sensing the same. “For we now know ‘twas definitely not her who tried to lure me off a cliff.”
“No,” Chloe concurred. “I have a feeling that her claiming you would find her again is likely the brotherhood at work too.”
“Aye.” He was positive she was right. “Trying to come betwixt you and me however they can. Trying to keep us from finding love and harnessing the power of our Claddagh ring.”
She nodded in agreement.
They sat in companionable silence for several minutes after that, thinking things over, their thoughts brushing one another’s. He liked the way her mind felt against his. The sweetness of it. Intelligence. Her never ending curiosity.
Which made him suddenly realize.
“’Tis from your former faery,” he murmured, knowing it like he knew nothing else. He looked at her fondly, for a flicker of a moment, on the verge of remembering more, but it got away from him. His certainty about this did not, though. “You were a verra curious faery.”
Though wobbly, a wry crooked grin curled her mouth. “That sounds about right.”
“’Tis one of my favorite things about you.” Unable to stop himself, having no real desire to, he traced his finger from her temple along her delicate jawline. “One of a growing list.”
“Then you’re the first of your kind.” Her eyes drifted a little at his touch. “But I’m glad.” Then, because she likely couldn’t help herself. “There’s a growing list?”
“Aye.” He smiled, not for the first time trying to keep thoughts of what lay beneath her fur from his mind, therefore from her mind. But it grew more and more difficult. Something he imagined she suspected based on an erection that no amount of magic would do away with. “There is a lot to like about you, lass.”
“I’m glad you think so,” she said. “Because I’m not so sure now.”
“You’re not so sure who you were in another life as another creature,” he countered, wrapping his hand around the side of her slender neck, taken with how delicate she was. “But you are sure about who you are now.” He touched the area over her heart. “Here.” Then he touched her temple. “And here.”
When he did that, something passed between them he had never felt before. A warm pressure on his chest and temples that spread throughout his body.
Then an overwhelming sense of familiarity.
“You’ve done this to me before,” he whispered, searching her eyes for more truth. “You’ve let me see...”
“See what?” she said softly.
“I dinnae know.” He closed his eyes, basking in her warmth, her inner light, finding a sense of peace he had no idea existed. “All I know is we have been here before.” He opened his eyes to hers. “We have done this.”
Or something very similar. Something that bespoke an untouchable connection.
“I think you're right,” she whispered in agreement, yawning. Her tired eyes drifted, her exhaustion not just a result of quickly progressing magic but her trip to the Brodgar Stonehenge.
“You need to eat,” he said sternly, not allowing her to turn food away a second time. “Then sleep.”
“But I’m not hungry,” she mumbled, leaning her head against his shoulder.
“Regardless.” He brought a piece of game to her mouth and nudged her lips apart. “Eat, Chloe. Now.”
“I forget that you’re in charge for a living.” She dutifully chomped into the meat, chewed, then swallowed. “What’s it like being a chieftain, anyway? Are you—”
He put the meat to her mouth again and made her eat rather than chat.
In the meantime, because he knew it was the only way to keep her eating and not questioning, he told her all about what it was like overseeing Clan Hamilton. The ins and outs of daily life. About his parents, Conall and Lindsay. How ma had once been an actress and still charmed his clan at every turn. How the love betwixt his parents only compared to that of his grandparents, Darach and Jackie, who even in their ripe old age, were an active part of everyday life.
By the time he covered all the questions percolating in her mind, a soft smile lingered on her face, and her belly was full.
“You talk about them all with such fondness and love,” she murmured. “While I envy you that, I’m happy for you. I hope to meet them someday.”
“You will.” Because he would not have it any other way. Though he probably should have stopped at that, his heart went out to her for her upbringing. “They will welcome you as family and,” he nearly said love but caught himself, “be as fond of you as I am.”
